"AI All But Abandoned The Residential Appraiser"

[Eli]

Obviously the decline in membership has hit AI on the head like a sledge hammer. I am not singling them out. That Governor in La is carrying a pretty big sledge hammer. He has some AI members backing him too along with a bunch of other professionals.

He has the biggest sledge hammer In La with the AG. Make no mistake. States have boundaries.

I am not worried at all on antitrust issues for La.

I really think that will backfire. Whoever cried to the FTC will wish they didn't. At least in La.

 

[Deleted member 126639]

I have no Cat in this fight because I quit attending meetings 20 plus years ago BUT my contention is the AI did not abandon residential appraisers - The residential appraisers abandoned the institute because after State Licensing was implemented the designation did not carry much weight with lenders and AI wanted both yearly fee's plus their own CE requirements and most of us were busy doing appraisals. The AI was always MAI driven and is not going to get masses of residential appraisers to apply.

Think Elks Club-Rotary Club-Nights Of Columbus- Lions Club- Toastmasters- Masons VFW and other Service Clubs- These are now dying at similar rates to appraisal organizations because younger people and even older people just don't join. The appraisal organizations were guilds of past like an association of people for mutual aid and the pursuit of a common goal but it's hard to have a common goal when your residential and leadership is all about the MAI. In all fairness there are folk's in the Institute that recognize the problem but it's no longer their fault because that ship sailed years ago and in my opinion it's not coming back . The other problem is leadership really needs to become a little more diversified 15 or 16 directors mostly older guys and one lonely women. Not a good recipe for recruitment.

The Appraisal Institute is what is known to professionals, as a Professional Association in the US or a Professional Body in other Anglophone countries. It is not a club. Or a guild. Or a secret society.

Corollaries in other professions include:
American Medical Association
American Bar Association
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

The list goes on.

The Appraisal Institute has many problems, but it is only MAI driven in the sense that the AICPA focuses primarily on complex tax issues for major corporations, instead of personal taxes performed at H&R Block.